, 1887-08-23
NEW YoRK,s LODGING HOUSES.
People who ratronl.o Them and Get

People Who PatronIze Them and Get
Accommodations at TrihIng Expense.
Not long ago a reporter, curious to test
the truth of the old adage that ''one-half
the world knows not how the other half
lives, made a tour of the cheap lodging
houses, which almost completely line
Chatham street from the Brooklyn bridge
to East Houston street. AS a rule the
cheapest class of these lodging houses are
~patronized by tramps who, during the
day, nave begged a nickel or dime of
some b%enevolently inclined person, and
by inveterate drunkards who, having no
home to go to, have pledged whatever
article the pawnbrokers would accept.
In this class of lodging house the usual
charge is five cents. Having paid the
man in charge of the packing case like
office one is entitled to a bed" This
"bed" is the bare floor of an outrage
ously ventilated room, usually about
twenty feet square, and no covering is
provided. In this room are nightly hud-
died together anywhere from twenty-five
10 fifty men. The close atmosphere of
the room, together with the breath of the
sleepers, renders the air ~sickening in the
extreme. No attempt is made at cleanli-
ness, and further, a man suffering with
any contagious disease is as readily re-
ceived as one in perfect health. Only a
few months ago a man suffering with
smallpox was spotted in n of these
holes by the police, and after much delay
removed to a hospital. The entrance to
the lodging house is invariably through a
narrow doorway off the street, and up Il
staircase, lighted only by a small oil
lamp. Everywhere about the place YER
min can be found. Rats and mice fairly
overrun the place. 1t is the custom to
turn out all dodgers at 6 a. m. for the
avowed purpose of ventilating the place,
but ventilation is impossible unless the
vile building be torn down.
The ten and fifteen cent houses are a
little better than the GIVE centers," but
not much. For ten cents one can get
a cot bed in a small room with several
others. Sometimes a mattress and sheet
are provided the lodger, but oftener he
gets no covering whatever. For fifteen
cents the lodger gets a ''private ROOM"
which is one of many. 1t is made by
dividing a good sized room, by means of
wooden partitions, into a number of
smaller rooms. In some of them one
finds a chair as well as the cot. A weak
effort at cleanliness is made here. In a
ldIl1 ldTBe TOOm near by soap, water
and towels are furnished, and all are ex-
pected to avail themselves of their use.
In this class of lodging houses the patrons
are awakened at z a. m, when a general
cleaning up takes place and everything is
put in readiness for the next nights
dodgers. The next priced houses cost
dodgers twenty-five or thirty-flve cents a
night, according to the accommodations.
These houses are all that u reasonable
person in reduced circumstances can ex-
pect.
For twenty-five cents one is frequently
given u single room, but at some places
the lodger is quartered with two or three
other men, but in u separate bed. At
tached to some of this class of houses are
sitting rooms, where far in the early
morning hours groups of men sit about
talking or reading. Some houses fur
nish their patrons with a bath. The best
class of cheap lodging houses charge fifty
cents per night. These are ~patronized
chiefly by poor mechanics and laboring
men. Everything is lone to make their
patrons comfortable. The daily papers
are kept on file, and games of chess and
checkers are permitted in the reading
room. The entrances are large and wide,
lighted by gas, and kept as clean as pos
sible. Notwithstanding that every effort
is made to keep these places well ven
tilated, in the summer the heat is intoler-
able.-New York World.